The road to nowhere
Under normal circumstances, arriving late at my own press conference would be inexcusable but when this happened at a recent event, where I was meant to address journalists about the state of road infrastructure projects, it simply added more fuel to the fire.
I felt no sense of vindication that my arguments were going to be proven even stronger through first-hand experience. I simply felt the same amount of frustration and indignation that every one of us is currently feeling.
We are living in a permanently gridlocked nation. ‘Congestion Avenue’ is our new collective address. And that is no dreamlike perception. It is our daily living nightmare. Driving from A to B requires a labyrinthine detour to avoid road closures. Given the size of the island it really is inconceivable that a journey of a handful of kilometres should take an hour by car.
But road works per se are not what riles us. We understand that roads need to be upgraded and maintained and we all welcome fresh, smooth tarmac. But, no sooner has that tarmac been laid and the ribbon cut on the latest multimillion-euro project than it is all dug up again because we forgot to lay an electricity cable or something or other. And that is when all our palms hit our faces and shrug “issoltu”, as per usual.
But, no, this cannot be the modus operandi of this country anymore. Back in 2019, Infrastructure Malta had issued a carefully worded statement (it’s still available on its website if you’d like to read it) proudly announcing all the works that will be carried out in a seven-year project to the tune of €700 million.
It promised us that “before laying the new road surfaces, Infrastructure Malta is also collaborating with the entities that have underground
water, electricity or telecommunications distribution networks in these streets so that they can be replaced or reinforced, as necessary, as part of this project”. A very ambitious promise indeed.
It declared this was “a first for Malta”, as if they had just invented the wheel and discovered common sense.
But did it happen? We are now five years into that sevenyear project and I do not need to tell you what the reality on the street is like.
All around us newly upgraded roads are being dug up a second time at an unnecessarily extra expense, not to mention extra inconvenience to everyone. Why? Because promises cannot be kept? Because someone forgot to read the memo? Because collaboration is not part of the vocabulary of Infrastructure Malta? Because the left hand and the right hand have still not been introduced to each other? Because common sense is not so common after all?
This is pathetically basic. Infrastructure Malta itself had declared it was going to do the obvious thing of “collaborating with all entities”. But we’ve been short-changed and severely let down.
We have been left to live with constant traffic congestion, dirt pollution, noise pollution, emissions from trucks and machinery, accessibility problems, loss of revenue for affected businesses, stress, anxiety and a hefty bill to pay out of our taxes, thank you very much.
Was it too much to expect Enemalta to anticipate the need for new cables to be laid before those road trenches were closed the first time around? Perhaps Enemalta is the only entity to be taken by surprise by the rise in demand for electricity during
Malta’s sweltering summer months.
EY Malta’s Attractiveness Survey revealed a very worrying fact: 86% of foreign direct investment companies described Malta’s planning and preparedness for population growth in terms of infrastructure as “very inadequate”, or, at best, “inadequate”. Survey respondents ranked infrastructure, transportation and planning as well as education second in priority for Malta to remain globally competitive in the next decade after development of new economic sectors.
If Malta is to remain competitive and attractive to FDI companies and to us common mortals, who simply dream of a decent quality of life, we need a holistic approach to our economy. If the population is going to continue growing at the current rate, we need to examine the effects that will have on Malta’s infrastructure, on accommodation, schools, hospitals and all other services.
The Labour government has driven an economic model based on the importation of cheap labour. Apparently, this is working well as Malta is said to be “enjoying one of the highest rates of economic growth in Europe”, according to Silvio Schembri. But, at what cost? And how sustainable is this economic model?
While certain sectors of the economy such as health cannot survive without the importation of labour, further population growth is going to exacerbate an already precarious infrastructure, especially if there is no holistic 360-degree planning that takes all aspects into consideration.
We need an economic model that supports and attracts industries that pay good wages with more investment in manufacturing industries. But ,above all, we need an economic model that looks at the big picture, that is forward thinking and anticipates long-term needs.
And this can only be achieved if all entities involved sit around the same table and plan ahead together. You know, like a properly functioning cabinet. Otherwise, we are all going to crash into the proverbial wall. Or remain stuck where we are, going nowhere.
Further population growth is going to exacerbate an already precarious infrastructure